Muddy Water's
by MythicCreatures
Summary: Bella and Edward hit it off at a local coffee shop and things take off from there. They introduce Alice and Jasper to each other. There are sparks for both couples. All Human. T for language and safety.
1. At the Coffee Shop

_**I don't own the characters. SM does! THis is what I have for right now.**_

__

**Bella and Edward hit it off at a local coffee shop and things take off from there. Jasper and Alice other main characters in the story. T for language and some themes later on.**

I had finally made it to the parking lot at Muddy Waters. I had more than enough homework I needed to get started on and traffic was against me today. My last class ended forty-five minutes ago. It usually only takes me fifteen to twenty minutes to drive from downtown Portland into inner SE, where I live and do my studying, and I had just arrived at my favorite coffee shop to study. Though I could have studied in the apartment, it is very hard to focus with my roommate Alice there. She's a very hyper person. Though studious, she has to play very loud music while she studied. Music that I didn't listen to while I studied. I had to listen to classical music while I studied, if I listened to anything. NOT hip-hop, rap, metallic, etc. So, here I am, dodging mud puddles, trying to get into the front door of my favorite coffee shop ever.

My name is Bella Swan and as you might have guessed, I am a college student. I am in my last semester at Portland State University. I work on campus in the library, (which means that my tuition is paid for) as well as a local grocery store. At school, I just have to pay computer lab fees and for my books. Since I am an English Literature and Creative Writing major, I am able to get a lot of my books used at a really cool used bookstore in downtown Portland for cheap!

I walked through Muddy Water's door and walked up to the counter. Since it was after one in the afternoon, I didn't want to risk drinking anything with caffeine. I would end up being awake all night. "Can I get a pot of peppermint tea?" I asked the guy at the counter. Must be new, I thought, I've never seen him before. Kind of cute. Blonde hair, brown eyes and pretty well built. I would have to remember to tell Alice about the new cute guy here. She would be very interested.

"Of course," he answered with a slight southern twang. "Would you like me to bring that out to a table for you?"

"Sure," I said, smiling. I handed him my money, then walked over to a table.

I dug my reading packet out of my backpack as well as a notebook to take notes in. (Yeah, imagine that!) Once again, I was having trouble finding a pen in my backpack. I swear I always put them back in the same spot, but I can never find them when I was trying to study. They are never in the little pocket made just for pens and pencils. I ended up having to take everything out of my bag, only to find out that I didn't have one anywhere. Frowning, I wondered where I could have put the pen I used during class an hour ago.

"Here's your tea," I heard the southern guy tell me. Looking up, I saw him standing right next to me, with my pot of tea and a mug. He slowly set them down on the table. "Can I get you something else?"

"Is there any way I can borrow a pen? I seemed to have misplaced mine," I asked.

Without answering, he walked to the register, grabbed a pen out of cup sitting next to it and walked back to me. He handed me the pen with a slight bow and a wink. "Thanks," I stammered. I'd never had a guy act like that around me. It amazed me and made me a little nervous. How does a normal girl react or respond to something like that?

Luckily, I didn't have to think of any sort of response. He walked back to the register. I stuffed everything I didn't need into my backpack and then I opened my reading packet to the article I was supposed to read for my Contemporary American Poetry class. Why I had to read articles about poetry, I would never understand. Silly professors. I felt like I've only ready three poems in that class and I've been in it for several weeks. I don't get some of the classes that I take.

I read the article that critiques a poet that we would start to study next week. I was actually excited. She had just read a poem at the presidential inauguration. She is supposed to be awesome. I haven't read any of her poems. Hopefully I wouldn't spend the next two weeks completely dissecting them and end up not fully appreciating them. I read through the article once, and then reread it in order to mark down the more important passages. Once reading the long-winded, ten page article twice, I was finally able to do a little bit of writing.

Though the writing I would be doing is only a response to the article, I love it. I love writing. I want to be a writer. Though in the back of my mind, I know that it is not the most well paid job in the world, if it does pay, it is my dream. "Do you mind if I sit with you? There are no empty tables," a velvety voice asked me.

I looked up and straight into the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. The owner of the eyes had to be the most handsome man in the world. He was gorgeous. I felt a little envious of his good looks. I swallowed just so I would be able to use my voice. "Go ahead. I'm not using all of it," I answered.

"Thanks," he said. "My room mate works here and is about to go home. I knew I would never be able to study for my test once he got there. He plays really loud music."

"That's why I'm here too. I can't study while listening to rap," I stated.

"I agree. As nerdy as this sounds, if I listen to music while I study, it has to be classical."

"I can't call you a nerd for that. I am the same way. Lately I've been listening to Debussy when I am at home and studying."

He looked shocked when I said that. "You know Debussy?" he asked.

"Yeah. He is my favorite composer. Not as well known with people our age, but I have grown found of a lot of his pieces." I wondered why he asked that.

"My room mate gets annoyed at me because Debussy has been the only thing I've played in the last couple of months. I can't help it. His style of music is awesome."

I nodded in agreement as the new worker came over with a cup of coffee in his hand. "Here you go Edward."

"Thanks Jasper. I appreciate it. Just so you know, I'll only be here an hour or so. I just need to get some reading out of the way.

Jasper nodded. "Sounds good. When you get home, we should talk about the plans for tomorrow." Then he turned towards me, "Would you like a refill on your tea?"

"Sure. But could you make it chamomile this time, instead of peppermint?" I asked. I reached into my pocket to find the change he gave me earlier to pay for another pot.

"Of course. No charge though. I've heard through the grape vine that you come in a lot."

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Muddy Water's has a grape vine?"

"I think anywhere that people work, there is a grape vine. I was told by several people who work this shift that two very pretty young women switch days coming in during the week. That on the weekend, they come in together in the morning. One is very short with spiky black hair and always orders something with a lot of caffeine in it and talks a lot. The other average height with long brown hair, will blush when she orders anything and only will drink tea with no caffeine in it at all, unless it's the weekend."

My face blushed bright red. How well the employees here knew Alice and I. It was embarrassing that they us so well. I guess that's what we get for only going to one coffee shop in Portland. "The other girl is my room mate," I said. "She likes caffeine a little too much, though I don't see why she needs it."

"That's what I've heard," Jasper stated. "I'm Jasper. I'll be here for your afternoon times Tuesday through Friday and some of your Saturday mornings. I work tomorrow morning, so I am looking forward to seeing you and your room mate."

"My name's Bella," I held my hand out for him to shake. He did.

"I like your name," Jasper stated.

"Since my room mate has forgotten that I exist since he is flirting with a beautiful woman, my name is Edward," my table buddy informed me, as he reached his hand over to me. Though Jasper was flirting with me, I think I prefer Edward.

I attempted to smile over at him. All I wanted to do was hide my face from him because of how red my face became. "Nice to meet you, Edward."

"I need to finish up my end of shift reports and all that fun stuff. I'll be right back with your tea though, Bella," Jasper informed Edward and I.

"Sounds good," I responded.

Edward and I both went back to the work we were doing. I was writing my response and Edward reading and highlighting his own reading packet. We both said goodbye to Jasper as he stopped by our table before he left.

When my fingers started to cramp up, I realized that I had written almost fifteen pages in response to the article I had read. Though I have to type it up, it would by the longest response I would ever turn in. The response has to be between one and five pages. I generally have a hard time coming up with two typed pages of response. I never wanted to do the minimum amount of work, because it showed that I wasn't trying. Now I might have to cut some of my response out. Oh well.

I put the pen I was using down and started packing up my things. As I stood up to return the pen to the cup by the register, Edward looked up at me. "You leaving?"

"Yeah. Just returning the pen I had borrowed, then I need to get home. I was gone longer than I normally am," I responded. I felt Edward's eyes on me as I walked up to the register and handed the pen to the cashier, explaining I had burrowed it from Jasper. Edward's eyes were still on me when I went to grab my backpack and purse. "Is there something you wanted?" I asked quietly.

"What time do you and your room mate come in for coffee on Saturday?" he asked.

"It depends on what we are doing. I think we are planning on coming around ten. Why?"

"Jasper gets off at ten. Maybe the four of us could go see a movie or grab a late breakfast. If you want. Or if you don't, I understand," Edward started rambling and stuttering slightly over his words. It just made him seem that much more handsome, being nervous about asking a girl to do something with him.

"I'll check with Alice, but I am sure we don't have plans since she hasn't told me anything. How about we meet here a little before ten, then go to brunch then catch an early movie?" I have no idea where my confidence came from. Maybe it was the fact that I was sure he wasn't really interested in me or that I knew that Alice would be with me tomorrow and she wouldn't let me do anything extremely embarrassing.

"That sounds great! I'll let Jasper know," Edward said.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Edward," I told him before I walked out the door.

~*~*~*~

I entered the apartment still buzzed on my confidence high, the door slamming shut behind me. I couldn't believe myself. "BELLA!" Alice yelled at me from her bedroom. "We have NOTHING planned for tomorrow. NOTHING! Not a single thing!"

I laughed at her. "Yes we do. You aren't the only one who can make plans."

Alice bounded out of her bedroom and flew at me. I didn't have time to take off my backpack or coat before she attacked me. I was pulled into a very tight hug. "Is it something fun?" she demanded.

"It's coffee, brunch and an early movie with two very cute guys," I replied. "Can I take my coat and backpack off now?"

Alice released me from her death grip of a hug to stare at me. Though I knew what she was asking me with her eyes, I decided to prolong telling her by throwing my backpack onto our couch and hanging up my coat. When I turned away from our closet and was looking back into the main part of our living room, "Cute boys? You asked cute boys to hang out with us? You can barely talk to Jake at Muddy Water's without stuttering."

"I do NOT stutter. And the cute boys asked us."

Alice looked confused. "How did the cute boys know about me?"

I sat down, knowing that Alice would not be happy until she had every gory detail. I explained about the new hot guy Jasper and how Edward needed a place to sit right on up to how Edward stuttered about us getting together for something. Alice was in shock. I wasn't known for talking to guys at all. Something about Jasper and Edward calmed me down enough to act like myself.

Whenever Alice took me out to bars or clubs, I would remain at a table. I was a born wallflower. I would get embarrassed talking to other girls at those kinds of places because how they dressed and the amount of confidence they seemed to have sacred me. So me making plans with other people we haven't known for years could have given Alice a heart attack.

"Did you at least ask where we might do brunch?" Alice asked me.

"No. Why does it matter? We're meeting at Muddy Water's and ending in a movie. We don't have to get too dressy for that sort of thing," I responded.

"Bella, how you are a girl, I will never know. But don't worry, I will find you something to wear." Alice shoots up from her seat on one of our recliners. "I'll keep it simple, don't worry." She ran off into my bedroom. Within seconds, I am sure my wardrobe will be on the floor.

"I want to wear jeans!" I yelled at her.

As I walked toward the bathroom I could make out her saying, "Stupid jeans. She owns skirts. She's talking to guys and she wants to wear a stupid pair of jeans. I need to go shopping." I just grinned.

I got ready for bed in the bathroom, knowing that Alice would refuse to let me into my own bedroom while she was choosing an outfit for me. Plus, if I left her alone, she would put my closet back together. If I came in and interrupted her hanging my clothes back up, she would make me do it. I never will understand that girl.

I woke up in the morning, with a smile on my face, knowing that I would see Edward again today. Is that strange, since I only met him yesterday?

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	2. Hanging Out

_**Here's chapter 2! Remember, I don't own the characters!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

When I woke up in the morning, I bounced out of bed. I wanted to see Edward. Though I still had a lot of homework I needed to do, I was glad I was taking a morning to myself...well, sort of too myself. I usually told Alice that I would hang out with her (go shopping, lunch, whatever) as long as it was after noon. That way I would be able to do some homework.

"Isabella Swan!"ﾝ Alice yelled at me when I stumbled into the hallway outside of my room. "Hurry up and take a shower. We have to leave in a half an hour!"ﾝ

Confused, I looked at my alarm clock. I hadn't realized I had slept in until ten or why my alarm didn't go off in the first place. I took a short shower, long enough to wash my hair with my strawberry shampoo and wash my body with freesia body wash. After I was reasonably clean, I hopped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around myself. "I put your outfit on your bed,"ﾝ Alice informed me when I walked out of the bathroom.

In my room, I looked at my bed and saw what Alice thought of as an outfit. Generally, we didn't agree on what was appropriate and not appropriate. I smiled. She was letting me wear tan slacks! She never lets me wear tan slacks! True, they are more girly then I would normally wear, but they are pants! I held up the shirt she laid out and grimaced. It was a dark blue halter-top. How was I supposed to get around Portland in the spring (very, very rainy) in just a halter? Plus, no bra. Just underwear. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Since she put ballet flats on the floor next to my bed, I didn't need socks. "Mary Alice! I can't go out in just a halter!"ﾝ I yelled.

"Don't worry. I have the perfect coat for you if you ever get out of your room and at least somewhat blow dry your hair,"ﾝ she yelled back.

I threw my clothes on, ran into the bathroom again and spent five minutes blow-drying my hair. I grabbed the little bit of make-up that I owned and put it on the counter. I didn't want to go too over the top, but I knew if Alice saw me without make up she would put more on me than I liked. Finally, I was putting my make up away and I was grabbing a necklace out of my jewelry drawer and walked into the living room.

"It's about time!"ﾝ Alice said, as she handed me a jean jacket. "You look very nice. Good thing you put on make-up, otherwise we would have been late."ﾝ

"I just didn't want you to put it on me," I responded. "You look pretty good yourself, Alice."ﾝ She smiled at me. She did. She was wearing a black skirt and a pink tank top with a black coat. I grabbed my keys off of the kitchen table. "Let's go. It'll take us a bit to get there in the truck."

"You will scare every boy away very, very quickly if we show up in your truck," Alice stated. I just rolled my eyes. "I am driving and we are taking my car."

Since Alice gave her approval of my appearance, we could head out of the door. Once we got into her car, we bickered nicely back and forth until we got to Muddy Water's. I was getting anxious about seeing Edward again and I was surprised at how little information Alice wanted from me. I thought she would have asked me non-stop questions about Jasper and Edward, but I got nothing from her. Hopefully, she will like Jasper when she sees him. I was a little worried that all of us wouldn't get along.   

As soon as we walked through the door of the café, Edward stood up from the table we had sat at yesterday. He walked over to us. "Hey Bella," he said shyly.

"Hi. Edward, this is my roommate, Alice. Alice, Edward," I quickly introduced.

Alice held her hand out. "Nice to meet you," Alice chirped.

"You too. Do you two want some coffee?" Edward asked.

"Oh yeah," Alice and I answered together. Edward grinned at us.

We walked up to the counter, where Jasper was standing, once again, taking orders. "Morning, Bella," Jasper told me. He looked over at Alice. "You must be Alice, her room mate. I'm Jasper"

Alice said, "Please to meet you Jasper. Are you one of those perfect, polite southern gentlemen?"  
"Of course! Now, what can I get you two ladies?" Jasper asked.

"I'll have a large quad skinny mocha with whip and Bella will have a medium skinny latte," Alice stated. She handed Jasper her money for our drinks. She turned toward me and whispered, "I'll bring your drink out to you." I winked at her and headed towards the table Edward had claimed.

Edward had followed me back to the table. We sat down silently and I was started to get worried that we wouldn't be able to talk about anything. Just my luck, I would find a guy that I liked and thought liked me and I couldn't find a single thing to say. I looked down and my hands and started picked at the hem of my coat. "What kind of music do you listen to beside classical?" Edward asked. I wanted to shout that he broke the silence, because I would have asked a really dumb question like what his favorite color was.

"That's hard. I like a lot of different music. It all depends on what I am doing. Classical when I am doing homework. I like the Wailin' Jennys, Alanis Morissette, Liz Warfield, Regina Spektor and artists like that when I am cleaning around the house or just sitting around and reading. When I am working out I like to listen to really upbeat and fast stuff. I just take random songs from random artists and make really random workout play lists," I answered. My face suddenly went bright red after I realized I just rambled about my favorite music. I normally don't babble that much.

Edward chuckled at my blush. "I like your blush," he told me, which made me blush even more. "So are you a big music fan?" I just nodded. "Bella, you can speak, it's okay. You aren't going to run me off by talking about something that you like."

I took a couple of moments so I wouldn't blurt anything strange out. "Well, what's your favorite music, besides classical? It's only fair since you know my answer."

"I really like the Beatles, Van Morrison, Simon & Garfunkel, The Rascals, The Cranberries and the artists that you mention plus a lot more. Though, I don't think I have ever heard any of Liz Warfield's stuff," Edward stated.

My eyes grew wide. Though I knew she wasn't a HUGE name, but to someone who seemed to love music to not to have heard of her. "She is great! I think you would really like her. Well, if you like R&B."

"I love R&B," Edward told me before I could say anymore.

"If you want, at some point we could go to my place and you can borrow the CD."

Edward smiled at me, "I think I would like that."

"So, you're a student, right?" I asked. Edward nodded. "So what kind of reading where you working on yesterday when you were in here?"

For a moment I thought that he wouldn't answer. "I am studying biology, as a pre-med student. But, in order to graduate in June, I needed one more elective credit. So, I was reading articles for my English class. It's called American Women Writers." He blushed a little. I wish my blushes were like that, just on the cheeks.

"I've taken that class. Are you enjoying it?"

"It's good. It was the one class I found interesting that fit into my schedule. So, are you an English major?"

"Yeah and Creative Writing. I read. I write. I write about readings I've read and read about writing I haven't done yet. Then I get a grade," I told him. This was how I explained my majors to other people.

Edward just laughed. "Glad you two are having fun. Here's your coffee, Bells."

I looked up and saw Alice standing over us. "We're ready to go to brunch if you two love birds are," Jasper stated. Edward chuckled as I turned bright red once again. I grabbed my coffee out of Alice's hand, looking at the ground because I didn't want to become even more embarrassed then I already was.

"Jasper was telling me about this cool café in NE Portland that he and Edward have been to a couple of times. He said that it's good. You mind going there, Bella?" Alice asked. I shook my head. "Good. Well, Edward brought his car. So, you ride with him and I'll ride with Jasper!"

I smiled at that. Well, I knew she would like Jasper. I'm sure I will get all the details of how much she likes him later when the guys weren't with us. "See you guys there then," Edward stated.

"See you in a few," I added on. I was excited about getting Edward alone in a car. We could have a more private conversation without Alice butting in. Though, I guess even if Alice were in the car with us, she would be distracted by Jasper. The four of us left together then separated at the parking lot. Edward led me to a shiny silver Volvo. Of course. His car makes my car look like it's been on the bottom of the dung heap for the last twenty years of its life.

Before I could reach for the handle, Edward had my door open for me. "Why, thank you," I smirked up at him. "Are you sure you aren't a southern gentleman as well?" I asked when he got into his seat.  
"Pretty sure I was raised nowhere near the south. I have a mother who is forceful about manners, so my manners are really good. I'm sure my mom would fly here from Chicago if she thought I wasn't treating the young woman I am taking out to brunch with respect."

I smiled. It was fairly obvious that he was close to his mom. "So, you grew up in Chicago?" He nodded. "And you decided to move all the way out to Oregon to go to Portland State?"

"I wanted to be somewhere that had milder seasons. Yeah, it rains here, but there isn't three feet of snow in the winter or many 100 degree summer days," Edward responded.

I laughed. "No, Portland doesn't have a lot of snow. But it is much more dangerous cause it just has natives who can't drive in a quarter inch of snow when it comes down once or twice a year."

Edward joined me in laughing. "Are you from Portland?"

Great. Now I have to answer the where I am from question. "No. I was born in a little town in the northwestern part of Washington, and then spent most of my life in Phoenix, Arizona. When I was 16, I moved back to the teeny, tiny town of Forks."

"Did your parents move a lot?" Edward asked.

"Nope. My parents divorced when I was a couple months old. Mom took me to Arizona. She hated Forks. I got sick of living with her and her new husband. Basically, I was sick of them always leaving me alone for weeks on end and no way to pay the rent or other bills when her husband left town to play baseball. So I moved back to Washington to live with my dad." Wow. Hadn't thought I would tell him, pretty much, my entire life story this morning.

"Your mom left you alone and made you pay bills?"

"Yeah. We don't talk any more. I don't really like to talk about her," I said.

"That's understandable. I just can't quite grasp those kinds of my parents. My parents are awesome."

"Tell me about them."

For the rest of the car ride Edward talked about his parents. It was great to hear about normal parents. Though Charlie, my dad, is fairly normal, he was also pretty set in his ways by the time I moved in with him. So he would still take weekend fishing trips with friends, but he never would if I was injured.

Edward's parents adopted him when he was six. His dad is some sort of surgeon at the biggest hospital in Chicago. His mother is an interior decorator. She restores old homes and sells them for, generally, two or three times the amount she bought them for. They have lived in the same house since they adopted Edward. Edward also has an older brother, named Emmett. He is a mechanic and is married to a supermodel turned mechanic. They owned a shop together. I don't think I could picture a supermodel wanting to play around with cars and grease.

"Am I boring you?" Edward asked as he pulled the car into a parking spot.

"No. I'm very interested. I like hearing about what I consider 'normal' families. I didn't grow up with two parents. I don't have any siblings. So hearing about what other families do, is really cool," I answered.

As we walked across the street to a little café called Helser's. (What a Helser is, I have no idea.) Alice and Jasper walked in right behind us. We were seated and handed menus. They had a pretty standard breakfast menu. I couldn't decide if I wanted pancakes or French toast. Edward noticed that I was being indecisive. "What are you thinking about getting?" he whispered into my ear.

"I can't decide. You've been here before. What's better? The pancakes or the French toast?" I asked.

"Well, I was going to get the pancakes, so if you get the French toast, we can share," Edward solved. I nodded eagerly.

After placing our orders, Jasper pulled out the living section of the newspaper and opened it to the movie section. Alice and him buried their heads into it, reading what was showing, the times and where. I had no idea what any of the current movies out where or what they were about. Edward joined in on their conversation about the movies. I just stated I didn't care what we saw as long as I wouldn't be _too_ scared if we went to a horror type movie.

Throughout breakfast the topic remained on movies. They all wanted my opinion of what we should see, which is sweet. So they can me the run down on their top chooses and wanted me to pick. I hated when I had to be the one to make the decision. I only knew that I didn't want to see the sappy love story that was on the list, though Alice gave me a glare when I said that. She should know that I don't really go for sappy love movies very often. We ended up going to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

~*~*~*~

The movie was pretty good. Not my favorite of all times, but good. Edward, Jasper, Alice and I walked into the parking lot together; my hand intertwined in Edward's, much to my delight. Jasper looked down at Alice and asked, "Do you want to come over and look at those car magazines I was telling you about?"

"Of course! Bella, you know how much I love cars, right?" I nodded. "Jasper has these magazines that talk all about the different porches and the models."

"You two have fun with that," I said, not really understanding Alice's obsession with cars. Looking at Edward, I decided to be a little bolder than I would normally behave. "Would you like to give me a ride home? I can have you listen to that CD we were talking about earlier?"

He smiled at me, "I would love to."

EPOV

This day was turning out to be amazing. After meeting Bella yesterday, I couldn't wait to see her again. I just couldn't believe how easy she was to talk to. We have similar tastes in music and movies. I can't wait to be able to get to know her better. I am about to go and hang out with her at her apartment. Alone. Just the two of us. No Alice and Jasper. I couldn't wait to be able to talk to her more. For some reason, it always felt awkward to talk with the two of them around, since we couldn't really have a personal, in-depth conversation about our families, our likes, and our studies.

I wanted to know everything about Bella. Frowning slightly to myself as I led Bella to the car, I realized that I didn't even know her last name. "Bella?" I asked quietly. She looked up at me through her very long eyelashes. "What's your last name?"

She laughed. "Swan. Isabella Marie Swan."

"That sounds…French?"

"I have no idea if I'm French," she answered laughing. "Are you going to tell me your last name, or just leave me in the dark?"

"Edward Anthony Cullen."

~*~*~*~

Once we got to Bella's apartment, I couldn't believe how fast the time went. We sat on her couch and talked more about music, movies, TV shows, books, and cartoons. It seemed like we covered almost all of the forms of entertainment. We talked about the different classes that we have taken. I was surprised by the amount of books she has read throughout her life and her school career. She put her Liz Warfield CD on for me. We spent a couple hours just listening to music. We choose five CD's to put into Alice's complex sound system. Those hours, I sat on the couch with Bella leaning against me. The feel of her body against mine was wonderful. It would be hard to go back home and not have her near me.

I looked down at Bella and smiled. She had fallen asleep. Her breathing was slow and relaxed. I gently laid her down on the couch and got up to turn off most of the lights. Should I put her into her bed? I decided it was probably the best thing to do, so I went in search of her bedroom. The first room I opened was covered in pink, had a sewing machine in the corner and had a picture on the nightstand of an older couple and Alice smiling. The next room was Bella's. It was covered in books and pictures of different animals. I wondered if she had taken those pictures herself. I slowly walked in and pulled the sheet and quilt down so I would be able to easily put Bella in the bed.

When I walked back into the living room, I saw that Alice had quietly come home. I smiled at her, and then I picked Bella up. After I had her tucked into bed, I went back to talk to Alice for a second.

"How was your evening?" Alice quietly asked me.

"It was very nice," I responded. "If I gave you my number, could you give it to Bella for me?"

"Awww. Of course I can, handsome," Alice responded. She handed me her cell phone and I quickly programmed my number into it. "If you give me your phone, I can give her your number."

"What if she doesn't want it?" I asked.

"She'll want it, Edward. Don't worry about that!" Alice snorted. "She likes you. She'll want to be able to get a hold of you tomorrow."

Shyly, I let Alice program Bella's number into my phone.

When I was falling asleep, I knew that the only thing I would dream about was Bella.

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	3. Mike

_**I don't own the characters. Enjoy this chapter!**_

BPOV

RING! RING! RING! My alarm clock blared at me loudly. I sat up in bed and was confused by how I got into my bed and next to my alarm clock. I stood up and stumbled into the kitchen for a glass of water before I took a shower. As I reached into the fridge to get the cold-water pitcher, I saw a note on the fridge from Alice.

_Bella-_

_Edward is sorry he left while you were asleep._

_I gave him your number, hope you don't mind._

_Here is his number:_

_237-8923_

_I am off to do homework._

_Alice_

I realized that Edward must have put me in my bed last night after I had fallen sleep. Slightly ticked off because I didn't say good-bye to him, I just scowled at the number on the note. Realizing that wasn't going to help me at all. I had to get to the library. I had to do a short shift. If I didn't show up, my scholarship money could be on the line.

After I got ready for the day, I pulled out my cell phone and programmed Edward's number into my contact list. I couldn't be mad at him for letting me sleep. I needed to get more; otherwise I wouldn't have fallen asleep when he was here. With me at my apartment. I sighed. I wanted something more exciting to happen other than us listening to music and me falling asleep before the CD's were done playing. Maybe we could do something another night.

Once I had showered, eaten breakfast and grabbed something for a snack, I raced out the door to hop in my car. I didn't want to be late. Once at Portland State, I parked my truck in the closest parking lot I could to the library and hurried to the main doors. I was just on time once I sat down at the reference desk that I always worked out. Since it was a Sunday towards the beginning of the term, I highly doubted that many people would come in today. The library didn't tend to get crowded until the last two weeks of the terms. Lots of people come in to cram for their tests and get last minute research done for papers.

As Alice had told me several times, I was one of those annoying people who always had their assignments done a week ahead of time. I didn't like leaving anything to the last minute. As long as I was ahead of schedule with my reading, my assignments and research, I never had to worry about turning anything in late or about cramming for finals or last minute researching.

I was lucky enough that I was able to do some homework at the library while I was working. I had decided to type up the response paper I was working on the other day in the coffee shop. Then I could start reading for the next week's class. If I was lucky, I could also get that typed up and not have to worry about my poetry class for at least a week. If the articles I had to read were relatively short, I would be able to get two more responses done on top of the one I just needed to type.

As I pulled out my notebook and my reading packet, my phone vibrated, singling I had a new text. I dug my phone out of my pocket. It was from Edward, I was delighted to see. _Lunch? Dinner? Coffee? Cocktail? Anything? Let me know!_

I laughed out loud, which gave me a couple of odd looks from other students in the library. I was the one who should be obeying all library rules, including being quiet. Hitting reply, _I work until 2. Am up for dinner, coffee, cocktail, anything or everything._

Setting my phone down on my desk, I flipped to the correct page in my notebook and started typing up my notes. I finished typing up my notes. I read two more articles and typed up responses for those as well. Surprised that I got that much work done with only two students needing help, I looked at the clock. It was a quarter till 2. I smiled. I loved the beginning of the term. I could get so much homework done while I worked. Remembering that I had responded to Edward's text, I glanced at my phone to see if he had texted me back. No such luck. I frowned. Maybe he changed his mind about hanging out tonight.

Disappointed that I probably wouldn't be hanging out with Edward tonight, I printed off my response and started packing my backpack. A couple minutes before 2, the guy who took over my desk walked up. "Hey Bella. What you got planned for tonight? Want to do something?"

"Mike." I sighed. As much as I didn't like Mike, I couldn't be _too_ mean, even if I think he really deserves it. It just wasn't how I was raised. "I'm hanging out with my boyfriend. We are going to meet, have coffee, maybe go get dinner, then do something wild and kinky."

"Wouldn't it be more kinky if I joined you?" Mike asked me. To my disgust, I blushed at the nasty thought of Mike in bed with me. It was disgusting!

"We aren't that kinky," I heard a voice say from behind Mike. I looked around Mike and saw Edward standing a couple feet away. "Hey, honey. You ready for our date?"

I stood up quickly, grabbed my backpack, "Of course. Let's go."

"Bella! You can't just leave with him," Mike protested.

"He's my boyfriend and you are a coworker. It makes more sense for me to leave with him then it does to leave with you," I told him.

Edward grabbed my hand and we walked out of the library together. I was glad to get away from Mike. Since he started working at the library, my life got a lot more annoying. "Do you have to deal with him a lot?" Edward asked.

"A couple days a week. He generally takes over my desk when I leave. I work four days a week. He only works two or three, sometimes four if he is picking up extra shifts," I answered.

"Has he ever done anything that he shouldn't have?" I shook my head. "All right, I do believe I owe you, coffee, dinner, cocktail, or something like that."

"How about we get coffee and I make us dinner?"

"Sounds good."

~*~*~*~

2 hours later: EPOV

It was amazing how much I liked being with Bella. We were able to talk about everything. I think the only people who know more about me now than Bella are my parents. Not even Jasper and we live together. It was strange. Good, but strange.

I followed her back to her apartment so we could drop off her truck. After going by her apartment, we went to coffee then stopped by a grocery store near Bella's apartment so we could pick up some ingredients for dinner. Bella wanted to make soup and sandwiches. Simple, yet good on a drizzly early spring day.

When we were driving from the grocery store to her apartment, she got a text. She gave a slight smile as she read it, then turned towards me. "That was Alice. She is going to stay at your apartment. Jasper told her you were hanging out with me. She was wondering if you wanted to stay the night at our apartment."

I was ecstatic by that question. Though we have only known each other for a couple days, I wanted to spend all of my spare time with her. "Yeah. I'll have to drop by my apartment and pick up some clothes."

"How about you do that, while I get the soup started? It'll take about an hour until it's fully ready," Bella told me.

"Sounds good," I said. I dropped her off at the front of her apartment building. She refused to let me help carry the groceries to her apartment, saying that the quicker I left the quicker I would be able to come back.

I drove faster than normal to get to my place and back to Bella's in a short amount of time. Though we weren't dating or anything close to that, I was going to sleep at her place tonight, on her couch. I wanted to be close to her. Being near Bella was like being close to the sun. I felt warm when she was near.

When I got to my place, I ran into my apartment. I burst through the door with such force Jasper and Alice sprang up from the couch. I was startled to see that Jasper didn't have his shirt on and Alice's clothes were messed up. "Sorry?" I said. They looked at me sheepishly.

"Hey Edward. I thought you were going to stay with Edward," Jasper asked.

"I am. I'm just going to get some clothes, then I will be out of your hair," I said, smiling at them. They seemed they were having as much fun as I wanted to be having.

Alice looked at me. "You guys got anything special planned with Bella?"

I smirked. It was like Bella and I were celebrating an anniversary, not hanging out after meeting three days ago. "We are just going to have dinner and probably watch a movie or two."

"Hope you guys have fun," Alice smiled up at me. "Tell Bella to not do anything I wouldn't do."

Laughing, "I'll tell her. But it seems like maybe it should be the other way around."

"Bella needs more adventure in her life. I am getting adventure."

I just walked to my room, shaking my head. When Bella told me that Alice was staying at my place and wanted me to stay with Bella, I knew what Alice and Jasper were going to be doing. I'm glad that they found each other and like each other enough to do that. I just know if/when I have sex with Bella, so I know that it is going to be a special moment in our relationship. Right now, Bella and I are only friends. We aren't dating. I want to date her. She would be the best thing in my life. She already seems like the best thing in my life.

After I stuffed some clothes into a backpack, I walked back into the living room. Luckily, Jasper and Alice were just sitting on the couch talking. "Bye guys. Don't do anything too crazy."

"Crazy is so much better than normal, Eddie," Jasper stated. "You just need to get your crazy on and you'll find that you'll love it, Bella will love it."

I shook my head and slightly blushed. "Don't call me Eddie. I'll see you guys later. Jasper, I have class tomorrow, so I won't be back here until later." I left the apartment as fast as I could so I wouldn't be in the living room while Jasper and Alice started getting it on again. That is something I did not want to see.

In the hallway in front of Bella's apartment, I could smell the soup that Bella was making. I slowly knocked on her door. It flew open and she jumped into my arms. Startled, I took a couple steps back with her in my arms. "Hey, Bella. How are you doing?" She wouldn't talk, I felt her shake her head against my neck. I felt her shiver. "What's wrong?" I was really confused. She was fine fifteen minutes ago when I left. Slowly, I pulled her back into the apartment.

While walking into the apartment, I scanned the rooms to see if anything would give me a clue as to why Bella was so freaked out. "No, don't want to go in there," she whispered as I was pulling her towards the bedroom.

I looked down at her. "Why don't you go sit in the living room?" She shook her head. I shrugged and opened her bedroom door. On the floor lay the guy I had heard her talking to when she got off of work. I looked at him and then I looked at Bella. I didn't really need her to tell me what happened, or almost happened. I pulled her into the living room and took my cell phone out of my pocket and called the cops.

Several hours later:

Luckily, Bella was able to hit Mike on the head with a bust of Shakespeare before he was able to do anything. Mike was being charged with attempted rape, breaking and entering and sexual harassment. I was sitting the couch with Bella, with her on my lap. Alice just left to go back to my place. She had been with us since we had to go to the police station. I couldn't believe I had left her all alone. At least Mike will be in jail for almost a year. Not long enough, in my thinking.

We were watching a movie, but it was more background noise. Neither one of us were paying attention to the movie. I was gently stroking Bella's back; her head was on my shoulder. I knew that she didn't want me to say anything, to just be with her. When I noticed that the credits were rolling on the movie, I turned the TV and DVD player off with the remotes. I picked Bella up and carried her into bed.

_**I will attempt to update later tonight or tomorrow. PLEASE REVIEW! I want at least 5 reviews. That is not asking a lot! Even a smiley face would make me happy.**_


	4. The Follow UpEdited chapter

_**I edited this chapter because it made no sense what so ever. Thankfully, I had reread it and I got a review from EdwardismyFav (which prompted me to get my butt in gear and edit) so here is the new and approved (slightly) chapter. Thanks again to EdwardismyFav. Hopefully I'll get chapter 5 up in the near future.**_

_**Guess what? The characters aren't mine! They are Ms. Meyer's.**_

BPOV

"AGHHHHHH!" I screamed. I sat up in bed and was shivering. I had a dream about Mike. I looked around and I was in my bedroom, which caused my body to quake even harder. When I felt a hand on my lower back my hands shot out and hit a warm body. All I could think about was Mike. I started crying.

"Shhh. It's just me, Bella," I heard Edward whisper.

Just the sound of his voice calmed me down. I moved closer to him. Edward sat up and leaned against my headboard. He lifted his arm and I scooted in next to him. Edward put his arm around my shoulders and I put my head on his shoulder. "I had a dream about him," I said, my voice quivering. "When I woke up in here, I thought I was still with him."

I felt Edward's head drop, his forehead resting on the top of my head. "I'm such an idiot. I should have thought of that before I brought you in here," he told me.

I looked up at him. "Where else would we have slept? The couch isn't very comfortable."

"I don't know. I just should have thought that you would have had some sort of dream about that low-life scum," Edward told me.

"Don't beat yourself up," I told him as I settled my head back down onto his shoulder. "You helped me deal with him. You called the police. You're still here. Plus, the sooner I start dealing with it, the sooner I'll be over it, I hope."

Edward didn't respond, just kept holding me. He picked up one of my hands and intertwined our fingers. His other hand started rubbing my shoulder; it helped me calm down, detox from the dream a little. "Do you need me to get you anything? Some water? Tea?" Edward asked.

Though I didn't want him to go away, but I really was thirsty. "Some water please. I need to go to the bathroom as well."

Edward and I slowly got out of my bed. Though I was telling Edward that dealing with what Mike did to me was the best thing to do, I wasn't ready to be in my room alone. Mike had _just_ attacked me. Edward held my hand until we reached the bathroom door. He let my hand go and continued down the hallway into the kitchen. In the bathroom, I sat on the toilet and breathed. After a couple of minutes, I stood up, flushed, and splashed some cold water onto my face. It felt nice and refreshing, it made the nightmare go out of my mind a little further. When I opened the bathroom door, Edward was leaning against the wall across the hall. He smiled at me and held out a glass of water. "Feeling better?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah. Thanks. Let's go back to bed," I told him.

We slowly walked the couple feet to my bedroom. "Are you sure you want me with you? I could call Alice and ask her to come back, if you want," Edward said.

I'll admit it would have been nice to have Alice with me. But it is nicer to have Edward with me and willing to sleep in the same bed. Once Alice discovered that I talked in my sleep, she didn't want to sleep in the same room. I was always waking her up. "I want you with me. I'll talk to Alice again tomorrow. I don't want you going anywhere."

"Are you sure? Cause earlier, before I fell asleep, you said to go away," Edward said, sitting down on my bed. He looked so sad. He rested his head on his hands. "I didn't leave, I hope you're not mad at me."

I almost started laughing. "I never told you to go away, Edward."

"Yes you did. I heard you."

"I'm a sleep talker. I was probably having a dream about Mike and telling him to go away," I told him. "So, don't worry about it."

I walked over to him and put my arms around his neck. I wanted to comfort him. So, I straddled his waist, my knees on either side of his hips. Edward's arms went around my waist. I rested my head on his shoulder, his cheek pressed against the top of my head. "What if something had happened? Something worse? Would you still want me here?"

Though we had only known each other for a couple days, I felt like Edward was one of my closest friends. I felt very safe with him. "I want you here Edward. Besides, nothing major happened. Yes, it was scary and I never want to see Mike again. But, if you hadn't been here, I might have had a major panic attack after I woke up."

I moved my head so I could give Edward a kiss on the mouth. It was amazing. Edward groaned against my mouth and made the kiss even deeper. His tongue crept out of his mouth and caressed my lips. Edward's arms tightened around me even more. It felt wonderful. He pulled away slightly, and then brought his lips back to mine. Slowly, he fell backwards, landing fully on my bed. I, of course, landed on top of him.

Edward kept my lips on mine as we fell. The feel of Edward's body against mine was wonderful.

EPOV

Bella started the kiss, but I had to continue it. Her lips felt wonderful. Her body pressed up against mine was wonderful. It made me forget about Mike and the whole incident. When I fell backward, having all of Bella on me, everything being pressed against me was great.

Our kissing kept going, and going. Bella was more in charge since she was on top. I never wanted to stop, but I had to get a different feel of her body. So, I flipped us. I wanted to be on top a little. I held most of my weight with my arms so I wouldn't hurt Bella. Her hands went everywhere. Feeling my chest, my arms, on my face. I couldn't believe how bold she was acting, not that I was complaining.

All of the kissing was giving me a problem. Though I wanted to have sex with Bella, now was not the time. We needed to know each other more. I slowly moved off of Bella and laid down next to her, on my side. She rolled towards me so we could look at each other. Bella smiled at me, and then snuggled into me. I pulled the blankets back over us and we went back to sleep.

In the morning:

I woke up again and it was morning. Bella was still asleep, right next to me. It felt great to wake up next to her. We had to go into the police station today to give a formal statement about the vile Mike Newton. I really did not want to bring last night back into her memory. She had lived through it all ready, and now she has to live through it again when we get to the station.

I don't know how long I was awake before Bella started to wake up. She barely had her eyes open when she looked at me. I smiled down at her and brushed the hair out of her face. "Morning, beautiful," I said.

She smiled back at me. "Morning, Edward." I leaned into give her a kiss. She pulled away from me. I frowned at her. "I have morning breath. I want to brush my teeth first."

I laughed at her. "It doesn't matter, Bella. I just want a kiss."

Bella shook her head at me then went into the bathroom. I groaned. Of course. Bella would be stubborn about me giving her a kiss before we got out of bed. I pushed the blankets off of me and followed Bella. I got into the hallway right when she was coming out of the bathroom. She smiled at me, leaned in and gave me a small peck on the mouth. "That does not count as a kiss, Bella," I told her.

She giggled. "Fine." I pulled her into me and gave her a very deep, almost French kiss. It was wonderful. I liked having Bella in my arms. Bella broke the kiss off. "We need to get ready. We have to drive down to the police station soon to give that stupid statement for Mike. The good thing about all of this is that I won't have to deal with him at work again."

I groaned. "You really want to do it right now?"

"I want to get it over with. I meant it yesterday when I said the sooner I start dealing with it, the sooner I'll be able to move on."

We just ate some fruit for breakfast. We agreed to stop on the way and get some coffee. I didn't want Bella to have to do this. But, I want to be there for her, so there I was driving us to the fucking police station.

When we arrived, the paperwork took roughly an hour. It was a daunting task to do. Bella went into it full force. She told me that she didn't need my help, just to be there for her. When her cell phone started ringing, she glanced at the caller ID. "It's Alice," Bella said, turning towards me. "Can you answer it?"

I took her cell phone from her. "Hello?"

"Edward?" Alice asked.

"Yeah. Bella is busy at the moment. Is there something I can do for you? If you want, I can ask her something for you" I asked.

"I'm at the apartment. We wanted to hang out with you guys. But you aren't here. Where are you guys? You aren't having brunch are you? If you are, we are going to joining you."

"Alice! Bella is finishing the rest of the paperwork after what happened last night and we both have to sign off on the statement we made, or something. Why don't we meet you somewhere and we can hang out?" I asked. Even though she won't admit it, I am sure that Bella would like to have some time with Alice, even if it's with me and Jasper there.

Alice sighed. "All right. I accept that. I'm glad that you guys are getting that taken care of so Bella can move on. Let's meet at Chaos in forty-five minutes. Will you guys be done by then?"

"That sounds good. We should be done here in a half an hour or so. So, that will give us time to drive over there."

Alice finally calmed down and was happy that she would be able to see her friend shortly. I was also glad that I didn't have to explain to Alice anything over the phone that she already knew what happened. I think I would have been castrated or something if she wasn't told the moment we had called the police.

After Bella and I were done with the paperwork, we walked to my car. Before I opened the door for her, I pulled her into my arms. She felt wonderful. I loved having her in my arms. I leaned down and gave her a kiss, then opened the door for her. We took off to have our brunch with our friends.

_**Please let me know what you think of this chapter and the story in general. Thanks!**_


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